| March 27th, 2005 11:47 AM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
Tales of Brave Ulysses: The Cream Story
Posted by uao on March 26, 2005 04:16 AM
The Very Best of Cream
Cream
Music from Polydor / Pgd
Release date: 09 May, 1995
The countdown is on for the Cream reunion concerts at Royal Albert Hall, London on May 2, 3, 5 and 6, 2005.
Cream was (and will be again for 4 nights) a trio; Jack Bruce on bass and vocal, Eric Clapton on guitar and vocal, and Ginger Baker on drums.
They were the first to exploit, on a large scale, the possibilities of what is now called the power-trio format. Their hugely amplified blues-rock also provided the template for heavy metal; early metal pioneers like the power-trio Blue Cheer and power-trio-with-vocalist titans like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin owe debt to Cream. The only contemporary power trio one could mention in the same breath would have been the Jimi Hendrix Experience. I'll leave it to others to argue about which trio was more influential and important; there's a lot to argue.
While Eric Clapton obviously is the most well-known name, especially among younger music fans, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker contributed equally to the unit. Clapton, though already something of a hero in England after his stints in the Yardbirds and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (which also featured Jack Bruce for a spell alongside Clapton), was still largely unknown in America before Cream; the Yardbirds' first chart single in the States was the post-Clapton "For Your Love". Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker had both played in the Graham Bond Organization, a British R&B band that had a very jazzy flavor, drawing from its members prior jazz experience.
As Cream, their aim was to extend beyond rock's barriers; to explode the notion of a 3-minute song to be replicated onstage note-for-note, verse-for-verse. In some respects, they incorporated the notion (if not explicitly the sound) of jazz improvisation onto the previously strict blues/rock structure; at their absolute best, they took what still remained blues for the most part into the far outer reaches; with Clapton's extended acid-blues guitar, Baker's consistently jazzy and busy drumming, and Bruce's strong, confident vocals (which undoubtedly informed Ozzy Osbourne's early singing, among many others) and songwriting, Jack Bruce/Pete Brown compositions being a big part of the band's repertoire.
Fresh Cream, their Dec. 1966 debut, remains precisely that; a fresh take on amplified blues, here amped to previously unthought-of heights, yet also remaining true in places to pure pop structure: "I Feel Free", their first UK hit (not featured on the original UK album) is a catchy concise piece of under-3-minute pop; yet it features the loud chugging of the band beneath an excellent, almost exotic harmony. "Spoonful" (left off the original US release in favor of "I Feel Free"), a Willie Dixon original, is where Eric Clapton took his first steps towards what may well be immortality; this extended psychedelic blues largely defines what Cream was all about. Ginger Baker got a showcase with "Toad", one of the very first extended drum solos on a rock record, which is primal and intense; awe-inspiring in its incessant, original ferocity.
The late 1967 release of Disraeli Gears, the band's masterpiece, is what truly cements their legend as recording artists; their concerts were something else. Disraeli Gears is where it all comes together in lysergic glory; much of the album still turns up on classic rock radio, including their first US smash (#5 on Billboard) "Sunshine of Your Love", the acid fantasy with killer chords "Tales Of Brave Ulysses" and the beguiling psychedelic pop of "Strange Brew" All are familiar tunes to most rock listeners; "Swlabr" and "World of Pain" are also among their finest moments. All were originals; the album also features a couple of blues covers. The album art is a classic as well; an acid collage that teeters between ecstasy and nightmare. It peaked at #4 on the Billboard chart.
Wheels of Fire followed in 1968. This ambitious double album reached #1 in America, and yielded another big hit, "White Room" (#6), a radio staple to this day. In addition to presenting the latest new material from the band, it was also an effort to convey the mammoth Cream concert experience; one disc was done in the studio, the other were concert recordings from San Francisco (the American acid rock Mecca at the time).
It is here where persistent arguments about the Cream legacy enter the picture. On the one hand, the studio disc presented some fine new material; the Bruce/Brown "White Room" and "Politician" and the fine Albert King cover "Born Under a Bad Sign" On the other hand, Ginger Baker gets three songwriting credits on the album, none of which come up in a discussion of Cream's greatest moments. The live disc is even more controversial. In the post-punk world of musical economy it became fashionable to deride the 17-minute long "Spoonful" and the 15-minute "Toad" as classic examples of rock indulgence and show-off playing.
Mortals after all, there is some validity to this argument; Wheels of Fire is an album even Cream fans probably don't play in one sitting much anymore. But a careful listen will reveal what was common wisdom in the 60's; like jazzmen, Cream would use the beginnings and endings of the song as motifs, and the long (long) middles as improvisatory space. On "Spoonful" this is a revelation; psychedelic blues approached like jazz; a seemingly impossible feat turned into touchstone. On "Toad" the detractors have ammunition; even there, however, if you approach this 15 minute drum workout sympathetically, it delivers some powerful moments of virtuosity, in the good sense of the word.
Regardless of how well the album conveyed Cream's vision, there was no denying that in 1968, the band was at its height of popularity. So credit must be given to them for recognizing that their mission to liberate the blues from its structures had now become confining in itself; Clapton in particular had developed new musical interests he wanted to explore. So Cream announced its intentions to disband; a farewell tour of the US and UK followed, and in November 1968, Cream ceased to be a unit.
A final album was released, the aptly titled Goodbye, which reached #2 in 1969. A mix of live and studio cuts, it comes across as a hodgepodge, but nontheless contains some of Cream's greatest moments. "Badge" a collaboration between Clapton and new best friend George Harrison features one of the most breathtakingly beautiful guitar solos ever recorded; Bruce supplies one of his greatest basslines, and Baker is muscular and heavy on drums. "Badge" points towards the 70's Clapton sound; heavier rock, less blues. Bruce and Clapton shine on the extended live Skip James tune "I'm So Glad", and the Brown/Bruce "Politician" is another extraordinary live cut.
Polydor would subsequently release two live albums, Live Cream Vol.1 in 1970, and Live Cream Vol. 2 in 1972. Vol. 1 consists of 4 Fresh Cream tracks, given the elongated Cream treatment, and the concise "Lawdy Mama" Vol. 2 features similar workouts of material found on the later three albums, plus a 13-minute "Stepping Out". For those wishing to explore the live Cream in all their amped-up improvisatory glory, these are the best places to start. Vol. 2 benefits from a superior song lineup and better sound, although Vol. 1 is a good listen, too. The band sounds like it is constantly morphing in sonic shape, as each player moves from background to foreground and back again. Those who find Cream indulgent won't be swayed by these. Those who find Cream inspirational will find these spellbinding. Both charted in the top-30.
Clapton and Baker would next appear in Blind Faith, the supergroup formed with Steve Winwood of Traffic and Rick Grech of Family. Jack Bruce has worked ever since Cream, and although he has never approached the commercial success of Clapton, he has always remained an interesting musician, dabbling in everything from folk to jazz to blues. Cream producer Felix Papillardi formed the power-trio Mountain with Leslie West and Corky Laing; Bruce then essentially replaced him in West, Bruce, and Laing. Baker has also kept busy both with solo projects and a lot of session work. Clapton's further adventures are well-known.
Clapton, Bruce, and Baker reunited only once, back in 1991 at the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame induction. Whether they can pull off these shows in a manner that ultimately adds to their legend remains to be seen. Of all possible 60's reunions though, this has the potential to be the most interesting. It's hard not to root for them.
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| March 27th, 2005 01:19 PM |
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| J.J.Flash |
NOthing new for me, as a Cream addicted..... anyway, good, worth reading. THank you Motsie!
I hope they extend those dates.....a new album....maybe just a dream.... |
| March 28th, 2005 08:33 PM |
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| littleredrooster |
I thought that Ginger Baker was DEAD!!!???
I'd LOVE to be in the stalls for that one! |
| March 28th, 2005 09:08 PM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
This time I won't forget what song I'm playing
(Filed: 29/03/2005)
Telegraph
Eric Clapton, celebrating his 60th birthday, is tuning up for the first Cream concert in 36 years with Jack and Ginger - but no drugs. Hugh Davies reports
Eric Clapton has told his fans that they will notice something different about him when he returns to the stage with Cream for the first time in 36 years: he won't forget what he is playing halfway through a solo.
Eric Clapton: ‘I can't slow down’
Rock's first supergroup sold 35 million records with a new form of "heavy" music that fused hard rock, blues and jazz. But the guitarist's performances were often blurred by his consumption of drugs and drink.
Clapton said: "We'd be in the middle of a song and not remember what it was. You just kept playing until you recalled what it was you were coming back to."
Even now, he said, it was "difficult to remember if there were any lucid periods. I don't think there were. I think it was wall-to-wall, bang-at-it stuff."
Clapton, long free of an addiction to alcohol, cocaine and heroin, spoke for the first time since agreeing to reform Cream with the bassist Jack Bruce, now 61, and drummer Ginger Baker, 65.
They will return for four nights in May to the Royal Albert Hall in London, where the trio last performed in November 1968.
Tickets for the reunion concerts sold out within minutes, and are being resold by touts for as much as £1,995 for a £125 seat.
Clapton, who is 60 tomorrow, told Radio 2 that he was surprised to be approaching such a significant birthday. "I didn't think I'd make it," he said. "I don't feel like I'm 60. I can't slow down. I say yes to whatever is interesting." He said forming Cream had been difficult from the start.
"Here was I struggling with the idea that I could control people like Jack or Ginger and have them subservient to me. It was an absolute farce. I didn't have the power to hold them down - and that's what happened, even in our first rehearsals.
"On our first gig at Reading Jazz Festival, we ran out of rehearsed material after the first hour and just jammed. Everyone thought that was the right bit. There were headlines about us being the first supergroup, with our extended solos.
"It was a licence to print money. We could do anything - and get away with it. It was actually a huge temptation.
"We had the time of lives, for as long as we could stand it. We had a six-month whistle-stop tour of America, playing every night of the week. It really got entrenched.
"Some of the nights that I played with the band have never been equalled, because to really get to that level, you have to play together every night with nothing else to distract you. I have really never equalled that.
"But at the same time, it is so punishing, you really can't do it for long. You have to take a break."
The reunion plans were prompted by Cream's induction into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in Los Angeles in 1993, when they came together and played White Room, Crossroads and Sunshine of Your Love.
Clapton said: "They wanted us to play, so we went into rehearsals. The place was full of technicians. I saw them climbing the walls; the power was so extraordinary. Who knew it was going to be so strong after 25 years?"
A decade on, Clapton decided that "the time was right" to give himself a "birthday present".
"We are doing only four nights, and I think we have to accept that that's probably it. I've got a world tour to do, and we're not young guys any more." However, he left the door open for more, saying the group "may have another discussion" after the concerts about whether they want to play extra dates.
Clapton has already written a set list for the new performances. "It will be like a set in the 60s. We'll probably do Strange Brew, I Feel Free and Wrapping Paper [their first UK release, which reached No 6 in the charts].
"Then there will be the stuff that was interesting, Sitting On Top of The World, I'm So Glad, Spoonful, with those long extended things.
"There is nothing quite like the power of a live band."
[Edited by Ten Thousand Motels] |
| March 28th, 2005 09:30 PM |
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| mac_daddy |
quote:
littleredrooster wrote:
I thought that Ginger Baker was DEAD!!!???
I'd LOVE to be in the stalls for that one!
you're thinking of the guy from traffic, maybe..?
i would love to be there, too - i have contacted the two londoners i know who tape - hopefully, at least one of them will catch a bit of this...
[Edited by mac_daddy] |
| March 28th, 2005 09:35 PM |
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| littleredrooster |
Thanks TTM, I just crapped in my pants! |
| March 28th, 2005 09:36 PM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
I may be wrong about this but I think some years back Baker was raising horses in Montana. I think now he has a farm in South Africa, but again I'm not positive about that either. |
| March 28th, 2005 09:37 PM |
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| littleredrooster |
quote:
mac_daddy wrote:
you're thinking of the guy from traffic, maybe..?
i would love to be there, too - i have contacted the two londoners i know who tape - hopefully, at least one of them will catch a bit of this...
[Edited by mac_daddy]
Saw them at the Fillmore East in the late 60's.......like Eric said, it's all a blur!!! |
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